Battle: Dragon Vs Dragons
The Waiting That Kills Though it had been a few days since Steelica's latest appearance, non of the villagers had gotten any rest, out of fear that the dragon would attack in the night. The only real defence they had against her was the 4 strangers that had approached them earlier that week. The 4 dragons, Terra, Nidia, Wottryon, and there elder Jelonghoul stood guard over the village, waiting for there clash with the rouge dragon. After a few passes over the village, Wottryon landed in a clearing next to the others. "No sign of her." the others pondered this for a moment before Wottryon said. "No disrespect master, but what are the chances that she got the message the first time?" The old dragon thought for a moment. "I suppose it's possible, but I can't really say for sure." He looked down to the dragon turned humans Terra and Nidia sitting on a rock next to him. "What do you two think?" "I'' think we need to go out and find her before she gets away, but would anyone listen to me? NOOO!" Nidia said bitterly, pouting as she turned and crossed her arms. She'd been like this ever since Jelonghoul had rejected her idea the day Steelica had first approached the village while they were occupying it. "Fighting will not bring closer to any of the villagers, they'll only see dragons fighting dragons, something we're trying to avoid Nidia" Terra replied as she looked over to Jelong, "We need a different solution that doesn't involve us trying to kill her". Jelonghoul looked back up at the sky again. "Not as our first option at least. We aren't warmongers like the others." He said with a hint of resentment in his voice, something the other three dragons had never herd from him before. Though he smirked to himself and glansed back down at Nidia. "And yes Nidia, had we chosen a different course of action, things would have turned out different. Nidia puffed out her cheeks, "Don't treat me like a child Jelong," she said rather childishly. "Anyway," she continued, "How much longer do you think we should wait. She might never come back willingly. We should at least start planning all the possible scenarios and a way to counter those that don't turn out so well." "I think it's something more, sure I get that this land is rich in minerals, but to want all of it, there must be something more to this than we originally thought" She replied while looking over to the horizon, "What if we went to see her, ask her why she was doing this?" "We could, but we don't know where she's located. All the ore in this canyon throws off mine and Wottryon's electrical sense." He put on a half smile as he looked down at Nidia and Terra. "And you two don't exactly have the sharpest senses anymore." While both the females glared up at him, Jelonghoul looked back up at the sky. "I wonder though, maybe we could draw her out somehow." "And just like that Nidia's genius has been inspired once again," Nidia exclaimed suddenly, "Steelica likes ore and stuff right? So all we have to do is gather some ore that's so irresistible she can't possibly pass up the opportunity to eat it up. And once that's done, we can surround her. Make it impossible for her to escape, and learn why she's here. Nice huh?" Terra and Jelong looked at each other and nodded in agreement, "It sounds good, but we're going to need to find a good location, somewhere where once she's trapped, she won't be able to escape too easily" Terra said closing her eyes as she used the virbation in the earth to find any nearby locations. The sensing found a spot where it was a one way entrance. "There's a blockade not to far from here, we gather up the ore, blow the back, and we'll be trapped with her, but she won't be able to fight us in a close quarter space" She said looking back at them. Sensing through the earth, Jelonghoul nodded. "That plan could work, but I don't think I need to remind you of how dangerous a cornered opponent can be." He looked back at his three followers with a look on concern. "I don't want to risk any of your lives I can help it." There was silence amongst the 4 of them for a moment as they all contemplated the worst case scenario. Wottryon seemed to shake the thoughts of failure away first. "We came this far master. It would seem like a waste for us to go through all this only to turn away now." "Yeah. We all knew what we were getting into when we came here. You won't have to worry about me, and even if Wott pees his pants, I'll still be there to back you guys up," added Nidia, as Wottryon shot her an annoyed look, and Terra and Jelonghoul smiled pleasantly. "You saved me and brought me out to this new world, it would be shamful if I didn't return the favor back" Terra replied with a grin on her face, gripping her sword tightly as she cracked her neck, looking to Jelonghoul as she waited to hear what he had to say. The old dragon smiled down at his three students. "Thank you all." His eyes quickly grew more determined as they got back to the task at hand. "We'll need the humans help with this one. Gather the villagers and explain the plan, I'm sure their leader will want to know what we're up to." Nidia, being the quickest, dashed to the elder's hut. She pulled back the curtain quickly and yelled, "Listen up!" to the old man. The elder jumped back, startled. "We got a plan and we need your help oldster," she said, "Tell your villagers to help us find some metal to lure Steelica to a cave with." The elder looked baffled and a bit insulted, but he didn't argue and did as he was instructed. "You could try to say it with a bit of compassion Nidia, it will get you more in touch with them, especially when we're the ones trying to save their village" Terra said walking over to the window as she saw the Elder started to gather up, telling some of the more muscled villagers to gather up the supplies to begin digging. Jelonghoul seemed to laugh to himself. "It's alright little one. We're collaborating in the end, that's all we needed." His sharp dragon eyes turned soft for a moment, watching as his three younger companions rushed off to help with the digging. "Does an old heart good." He mumbled, before going himself to offer aid. The Trap Is Sprung Eight hours after their plan had been set in motion, the combined might of the villagers and their 4 dragon allies had unearthed enough raw materials to make the small settlement VERY wealthy. It was almost a shame that it was all set to be devoured by another dragon, but self preservation overturned any thoughts of greed fairly quickly. Looking over the pile they had worked so hard for, he chuckled to himself. "I'd like to see her turn down a meal like this." He quickly turned back to the others with a toothy smile. "Thank you all for this. You've done your part, now it's time for us to do ours." Though he was talking to everyone, he seemed to be only addressing the humans. "Best that you remain at your village. If this backfires, well, battles between dragons can get very chaotic." "Alright, let's get this started!" said Nidia, and the four dragons put their plan into motion. Nidia and Terra hid back at the edge of the forest. Wottryon perched himself on the top of a nearby cliff, ready for an aerial attack, and Jelonghoul sat with his legs crossed near the large pile of ore. They all waited patiently. After several hours Nidia wondered if the dragon would ever come, but she kept quiet. Finally, after waiting well into the night, the sound of large wing-beats could be heard. Steelica was coming. "I had almost forgotten the sound of an actual dragon's wing pattern when they came in for a meal, though at the moment, my former title of '''Earth Dragon Queen' matters little" Terra said waiting for the appearance of Steelica as the beating sound of wings flapping got closer and closer until the sight of the dragon could be seen as she roared, creating a powerful shock wave as she landed right near where the food was, but quickly smelled the scent of dragon-humanoid's, especially Terra. "It's been some time Earth Queen, or should I call you worthless scum?" Steelica said shouting out in the dark as Terra showed herself with a lit tortch. "You know of me?" She asked looking down at the dragon. "All those of the Earth know about the great Earth Queen, how she was single handedly defeated by human scum and forced to regress into one to survive, a sin if any" She said laughing before smelling the others. "Even an old bag of bones and a worthless pup should know that dragon's sense of smell is stronger than any other beast's" She yelled out as both Jelonghoul and Nidia came out into the light. "Who're you callin' a pup, you Metal-Mouth Daughter-of-a-Fart Dragon?" Nidia shot back, annoyed by Steelica's arrogance and audacity. "And another thing. Don't you dare call Terra's actions a sin. You have no idea what she gone through and why. You've got some nerve coming in here and terrorizing this town, but it's even worse when you insult one of your own without even knowing why!" Nidia was steamed. A pulsing blue aura was radiating around her. Jelonghoul placed one of his forelegs in front of Nidia, in an attempt to stave off a battle of insults. "Steelica, we aren't interested in a conflict. I only want a peaceful resolution to this, nothing more." He stepped closer to the massive pile of ore that they had spent the last day excavating. He rose to stand on his hind legs, and placed a claw on top of it. "You can have the ore, but you must leave the village alone." The dragon began laughing as she roared, sending a powerful shock wave through the cavern and looked at them, "Why should I leave those pathetic humans alone, they've been nothing but trouble, this meager meal will not be enough for me" She said licking her teeth as she took a step forward, only to have her hand sink in as she looked over to see Terra. "The Dragon and Human war started nothing but pain and suffering, we lost many to it, there is no need to spill blood" She said gripping on her sword. "This was our offer Steelca..." Jelonghoul began. "We don't want a conflict, but we are prepared to fight if it where to come to it." He slid his hand off the mound, causing small sparks as his claws raked over the top. "Even you can't be as bold as to think you can take us all on and escape unharmed." Nidia summoned light that engulfed her claws in a fiery illuminous ball, readying erself to defend her comrades if any surprise attacks were to happen from Steelica. "Steelica, let's do the smart thing here," she warned, her claws at the ready. Steelica simply growled as she looked at them, but only scoffed, "You two were the most respected dragon's in existance, many bowed beneth your greatness, and you young pup, if you had been born earlier, you might have made a threat, but now, all you are is weak human loving abominations. Be prepared to die!!!" She quickly lifted up to the air as she took in a deep breath, causing a vaccume of sorts to much of the area until she stopped and roared a powerful blast of razor metal. Terra quicky started to charge some of her magic as the ground beneth her began to shake and break apart, "We need to fire a timed attack and sent it back together!" She yelled over to both Jelonghoul and Nidia. Without warning, Jelonghoul swiped both the girls up in his claw, rolling out of the way of Steelica's breath attack. He landed back on his feet and glared up at the metal dragon, the girls still in his claw held close to his chest. Steelica's attack tore through the earth, throwing stones up into the air, and strewing the pile of ore all over the ground. "Sorry Terra, not with this one." She grinned at them, though was admiring the ore laying all over the ground. She reared back her head, taking in air in preparation for another breath attack. Suddenly their was another roar, and Wottryon dove off one of the cliffs straight into Steelica. Caught off guard, it was to late to stop her attack, but Wottryon pushed her head away from his companions, causing her breath attack to carve along the canyon wall as the two tumbled to the ground. Wottryon landed on Steelica's back, and leapt off when the two stopped rolling. He landed and quickly began circling low to the ground, his motions not unlike a cheetah stalking it's prey. Steelica was now between the two lightning dragons, though was much more agitated than she was before. Jelonghoul let Terra and Nidia out of his hand, and smiled at their opponent. "How about now Steelica? Think you can take us on with someone more your speed thrown into the fray?" Nidia began charging her own attack. She put her finger-tips together, forming a triangle with her claws, and gathered light in them. Then, after fully charging, she opened her eyes which shown brightly in the night and released the built up light in her claws, "Light Dragon Sacred Art: Triangle Beam Formation!" A triangular beam of light shot out of her claws and headed for Steelica at a great speed. Steelica tried to dodge it, but it still grazed her, carving a distict gash in her armor. "Aim there everyone!" Declared Nidia, pointing to the gash, before falling to her knees in exhaustion. Terra focused and stedied herself as she took in a deep breath, focusing her magic deep inside of her stomach until it was ready to burst as she released her energy right at the spot that Nidia had given, sending her powerful attack at Steelica. Steelica raised her wings as if she was about to take to the air. Though in that same moment, Worrtyon was on her back again, a claw on her neck and back, and his jaws clamped down on one of her wings. She roared in anger as Terra's attack impacted her exposed point. She recoiled back with the impact, throwing Wottryon tumbling away again. In the moment that she was about to strike back, Jelonghoul rushed forwards. Slamming a claw into the side of her head while using the other in an attempt to push her to the ground from the shoulder. Steelca beet him with one of her wings to knock him away, then lunged herself when he backed off. She nocked the elderly dragon on his back, and stood over him with a claw placed on his chest. She gave a victory roar as she razed her other claw, poised for a kill. Nidia, back on her feet, but weak, saw Jelong in trouble and acted instinctively, letting her dragonic nature take over. Channeling all her power, she attempted to transform, despite her inability to previously do so due to a curse placed on her by Zeref. The pure effort of trying to break the seal was zapping her energy, but finally, a small amount of black magical fragments released from her body, and she sprouted giant, butterfly-like wings, and a long, green tail. The seal wasn't completely broken, but it was a start. Nidia flew at Steelica, and slammed into the dragon's jaw, causing her to falter, and gave Jelong and Terra an opening. Terra quickly slammed down into the ground as it began to rupture and erupt from above the ground, the two rock waves took on dragon forms as they were sent flying right at Steelca. She razed back on her hind legs, catching one form each in her claws. She stopped the attack, and used her claws to rip the heads off of both. In that moment, Wottryon lunged at her from the side, landing on her back and biting down on the base of her neck. She roared as the two went tumbling to the ground again, where she quickly rolled on top of him and slammed his head into the earth with her massive claws. A bright flash, and Steelca was overtaken by as massive lightning bolt. It knocked her several tens of feet away from Wottryon, and had done quite a bit more damage than any of their previous attacks. She growled as she watched Jelonghoul regain his posture, electricity arcing from his horns and wings. Meanwhile, Nidia was flying around Steelica like a mousquito, striking her at devistating speed with here light-infused claws. It wasn't doing much damage to Steelica, but it was providing a ditraction for the older dragons to use. Terra quickly used this chance to capture Steelica since she was now on the ground, focusing her magic, the earth around Steelica began warping, quickly managing to have the earth surround her, creating a sort of bind that covered her entire body. She then took in a deep breath before releasing another roar, only this time the added earth she absorbed was used. Steelca shook violently, and her razor sharp scales tore through the rock holding her in place. Just as she was about to break free, Terra's roar attack slammed into her, nocking her clear out of the stone cocoon. She caught herself, and looked back at her opponents. Glairing at then, she threw her head up high, unleashing a primal roar to the heavens. She lowered her head again, breathing another torrent of metal shards at the dragons. As they all scattered to avoid the attack, Nidia flew upward to escape further harm, "We need to end this already. It may be just me, but I think talking it out may be out of the question at this point!" she called down to her comrades. She wasn't feeling to good herself, and feared she may give out any minute, causing even more trouble for her friends. Terra looked up, "A combined attack can put an end to this, but we must do it at the right time!" She yelled before drawing her sword, looking over to Steelica as she started chucking loudly. "Do you honestly believe that stick is strong enough to end me?!" She said roaring but quickly stopped when she felt a sharp pain slash through her body as Terra was seen behind her. "This sword was carved from my very own fang, and like you said Steelica, I was the queen of the earth" She said sending out another roar that hit the back of her head. Wottryon quickly moved to catch Terra as Steelica crashed to the ground. With her in hand, he made his way back to the others, but never took his red burning eyes off their opponent. "One more time Steelica." Jelonghoul said, standing between Wottryon and Terra as Nidia hovered above. "This can have a peaceful resolution, just turn away from here and it's done with." His words carried less of a compassionate tone with them then before, though it still couldn't be considered a threat. Nidia had no idea what might be going on in Steelica's head right now, but she didn't know if she'd ever be able to trust the Metal Dragon, even if she did surrender. The young Light Dragon was feeling extreme exhaustion from her Dragon Sacred Art attack, plus her breaking part of Zeref's curse. She wasn't even sure if she'd be able to keep her wings and tail for much longer, but she pushed on, keeping her eyes on Steelica. "Don't you see? It doesn't matter what we do, dragons and humans can never co-exist. I felt the pain Terra, of what the humans did to you when you sliced me. These broken, flawed apes are not worthy to live, they will end up destroying themselves, I beg you my breathern, join me and we shall show the humans the majesty of the dragons" Steelica said looking at them as they looked at each other. "You're the one who's mistaken Steelica" Terra said sheating her sword before slowly concentrating what remaining magic she had left. "You had your chance Steelica." Jelonghoul sighed, disappointed that it had come to this. Slowly he raised his head back, taking in a long breath of air. A blue light seemed to build in his mouth, and electricity began arcing from between his teeth. Wottryon began building power as well, though it was much more visual then the others. His body glowed brighter, and the buzz of electricity poured over the area. energy built in inside his ribs, flowing along his neck and into his mouth. Nidia didn't bother taking part in this. She was sure any other attack would make her faint, so she just looked blankly down at her comrades, about to finish off the Steel Dragon. It was a bit of a shame, but some things have to be done for progress she supposed. Terra released the full amount of magical energy she build up in her body as it was a roar that went sent flying, along with the two attacks from the lightning dragons., as the energies started to pull together, creating a mixture of elements that were growing together until it was a large powerful roar that was bigger than Steelica herself. Steelica's eyes widened, watching their combined force barrel down on her. She dug her claws into the earth, unwilling to show a moment of weakness, just as it washed over her. It ripped through the earth around her, forcing her down as if she was standing in a powerful gale. Her scales rattled against each other in the assault, some even flew off, unable to withstand the force. Slowly, she began to rise, not of her own power, but when the earth gave out beneath her, unable to hold her down. The Steel dragon gave off a pained roar, tumbling through the air as more of her scales tor away. Their combined attack cut clean through the canyon wall, shooting far off over the horizon. Steelica landed in a crumpled heap farther back from where she had just been standing, mist flowing off the charred skin where scales had been lost. The three dragons huffed, sure now that the fight was over. Jelonghoul stepped closer to see, one way or another, if Steelica had survived. He only took a few steppes before she moved, setting them all on edge again. She seemed to roll to an upright position, clearly pained by any movement. Her head swivelled on her long neck to look at the ones who had just defeated her. She couldn't believe it, a whelp, a elder, and a pair of humanoids had defeated her? Their was no way, this had to be some sick joke. As she regained her senses, she felt something deep within her gut, something alien to her, something primal. It was screaming for her to turn away, as fast as she could, something she had never experienced before. "That's called fear." She heard Jelonghoul say, somehow able to read her thoughts. "Remember it the next time you want to make pray of humans." She attempted to rise to her feet, even under the incredible pain she was in. Wottryon growled, and instantly took to the sky. He sored high above Steelica, and shot a large bolt of lightning from his mouth. It landed in the spot between Steelica's forelegs, sending shards of rock up around her head. Forgoing any thoughts of retribution she turned, scrambling to get traction, and obeyed the feeling in her gut. She ran for the mouth of the canyon, with Wottryon's breath attacks carving through the earth at her heals. She soon spread her wings, having gained enough speed to take flight, and took to the air. Wottryon gave chase no longer, only loosing lightning through his entire body. A final warning to stay away. Jelonghoul slumped down to his stomach between the girls and rested his head on the ground, breathing heavy under the strain of their hard won victory. "I think I'm getting to old for this crap." He smirked though, looking back and forth between Nidia and Terra. "You two did extraordinary." "Well of course I did," Nidia exclaimed, putting her fist over her chest in pride, "I am a Dragon of Light aren't I?" she said, fluttering her newly regained wings for her comrades to see and admire. All Terra could do was stab her sword into the ground as she looked over at the direction that Steelica had flown in, "Maybe someday she'll find her way back to the right path" She said before falling down to her knees as she looked over to her group. Wottryon arrived back at the clearing where the others where, landing roughly again. "What she does now is up to her." He growled, obviously more fatigued than he looked. "But now she knows she's not invincible. She'll definitely think twice before doing something like this again." With a groan, Jelonghoul got back to his feet, still watching the sky where Steelica had disappeared. "We've done what we came to do. No use dreading about the future." He said, content with how the mission had played out. Though he soon began watching Nidia fluttering around his head on her new wings. "It's good to see some good come of this though. You where able to weaken the curse Nidia. That's a good sign." "I know, huh?" Nidia said, feeling giddy from her regained ability of flight. She almost did a triple mid-air backflip, but her wings dissolved into a thousand light particles, along with her tail, and she fell only to be gently caught in Jelonghoul's large hands. "Haha, well today is just the start, there are still many of our fellow dragon's out in hiding or in human form, and they need us to teach them all we know" Terra said looking up at the sky as she closed her eyes, feeling the wind blow by, and as if by some miracle, the spirits of her mate and new born appeared next to her in human form, smiling as they were proud to have their woman going on the right path. Her vision was interrupted however, as they all heard the sound of the villagers approaching from the mouth of the canyon. "Oh, here we go." Wottryon growled, stepping between his companions and the others. Jelonghoul let a still pouting Nidia slide out of his hand, before gently pushing Wottryon behind him. The village elder approached, staring off into the distance in the direction Steelica had disappeared. "We've dealt with Steelica, you won't be seeing her around here again." The villager stayed silent, studying the incredible destruction around the canyon. "Now we will also be leaving, as you wished." Jelonghoul began to turn away, while Nidia and Terra where climbing into Wottryon's claw. "Wait..." They heard the Elder say, stopping all of them dead with surprise. "Perhaps we were a bit... hasty, about our request." Jelonghoul looked down at him with a curious look, though his dragon features failed to register with many of the villagers. "We would like you to stay a while. As our way of saying thank you." He appeared to be embarrassed of his treatment of the dragons when they first arrived. "Please, it's the least we can do." Nidia began to grin from ear to ear in amusement, "Oh, I get it. You want us to stay so another dragon doesn't come and kick your ass, is that it?" She began laughing before comically spewing some blood from exertion. "Haha, we'd be honored to stay here, it'll be interesting to live among a village of human's" Terra said as they all began laughing as they headed back to their home, to begin a new era of peace between Human's and Dragon's. Back to the Present Jelonghoul sat staring into the fire, his young son Axel sitting across from him on a log. The sound of rain near the entrance to their cave indicated that the storm still had a while to pass. "Soon after we left. And Steelica never bothered the village again." "Wow..." Axel stared at the old man before him, completely taken in by his story. "So the villagers wanted to thank you after words." He rocked back and forth on the log while watching the ceiling, trying to envision what the festival must have looked like. "Awesome." "Yes it was." Jelongoul piped up. "Humans make the best food I've ever seen. Even stubborn little Wottryon stuck around for some fun." He ran a hand through his long silver hair, looking at the ground intently as he reminisced. "Did this old man good to see something like that." "Cool" Axel said a little shortly, slowly losing interest in Jelonghoul's trip down memory lane. "So what about Terra and Nidia? Where they able to turn back into dragons?" Jelonghoul froze momentarily, caught between thoughts. He had a rather sad smile as he looked into the campfire, then gave a long sigh. "No. The spell Terra used was permanent, no amount of training can change that. And poor Nidia, I had no idea what sort of curse she was afflicted with, nor could I help remove it. Even after she was able to break through a tiny bit." He looked up slightly to see Axel looking a bit depressed, so he added. "They could have found a way to turn back on their own, they're both incredibly talented. But as far as I know, my method didn't work for them." "Oh..." Axel didn't seem very relived about his dads answer. "So, where did they all go? Nidia and Terra and Wottryon?" Jelonghoul began stroking the hair on his chin, thankful that Axel had changed the subject. "Well, from what I've heard, Terra stayed at the village for a few years before moving on to wander once again. Nidia left with us and soon rejoined the Phoenixes in another far off country." Axel seemed a lot more interested now than when he heard the others weren't able to turn back. "Yeah? And Wottryon?" "He left to do what I did. Find dragons and teach them to live among humans." Jelonghoul looked out the mouth of the cave again, just in time to see a bolt of lightning strike in the distance. "But I think that's enough of a story for one night. Time you got off to bed." "Awwww, come one dad. One more story." Axel begged. "No complaining. The sun's already gone down." He got up and brushed sand on the fire. then pointed to a hammock at the back of the cave. "Get some rest. We're going into the city tomorrow, and I don't want you to fall asleep on the cart again." Axel mumbled something about being unfair, but did what the old dragon asked and climbed into the hammock. Seconds later the sounds of snoring could be heard echoing from the back of the cave. Jelonghoul watched the rain fall outside for a while longer, thinking fondly of the others who had accompanied him throughout his long life. He to fell asleep not long after, rain and lightning crashing outside just as it had done all those years ago. End Category:Roleplay Category:Storyline